Buzz Newsletter 02/26/26

Welcome to the February 26 edition of the GPhA Buzz Newsletter.

 

 

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There is an extraordinary amount of GLP-1 news this week, so we decided to round it up for you. 

 

The Danish drug manufacturer saw shares drop by 15% this week after the pharmaceutical company released news that its combo obesity shot CagriSema had less weight loss impact than Lilly's Zepbound, though just by a 4% margin. Still, that makes them unable to market CagriSema as "non-inferior" to Zepbound. 

 

Novo's triple agonist, currently called UBT251, is showing promising results in studies in China. The latest placebo-controlled Phase 2 trials report that UBT251, a triple agonist for GLP-1, GIP, and glucagon, led to 19.7% weight loss after 24 weeks. 

 

In the meantime, Novo announced a major price decrease on Wegovy, beginning in 2027. The list price will drop at least 35% and possibly as much as 50% in U.S. markets next year. The price cuts come at the same time as new Medicare pricing goes into effect. 

 

The New York Times is reporting that some patients in Lilly's study of the effectiveness of their own triple agonist are dropping out of the study because they're losing too much weight. On average, they're losing 28.7% of their body weight. 

We keep hoping that the Buzz is finished talking about the measles, but there are too many important news stories out there, as the outbreak continues. 

 

The U.S. is getting close to 1,000 reported cases in 2026. It's just February 26. That's more than four times the number of cases this time last year. Measles cases are in more than half the states, with 800 of those cases in South Carolina alone. 

 

Here's a twist on the outbreak -- there are doctors practicing medicine who have never seen a live case of measles. They're not necessarily young practitioners either. One pediatrician quoted has been practicing for 30 years. 

 

In Georgia, Bryan County schools have reported an exposure at Bryan County Middle High School, and have let parents know that all students with the vaccine exemption who have not been received the MMR vaccine need to stay home through March 6. 

 

If worrying about measles outbreaks isn't enough, the Washington Post has a good article on nine other diseases looking to make a comeback, including pertussis, meningitis, and polio, which we should note has no cure.  

This is how a lot of zombie movies start. 

 

Scientists have uncovered a bacterial strain in a Romanian cave that is roughly 13,000 years old and is resistant to at least 10 modern antibiotics. Studying these resistant ancient bacteria could lead to more information on how bacteria develop resistance, whether naturally through the environment or through mixing with one another over the millennia. 

 

They've also said there's no danger of the bacteria infecting humans. But then again, they always say that right before the first zombie shows up. 

Rather than spend the day maligning bacteria and worrying about the zombie apocalypse, we turn to some encouraging news. Scientists are engineering bacteria to fight cancer from the inside out -- training them to invade cancerous tumors and destroy them. The spores love an environment without oxygen, so once they are in the tumor, they feed on it.

This week the FDA approved milsaperidone (Bysanti) as a first-line therapy for adults with schizophrenia and bipolar I disorder. Per the article, "milsaperidone is an active metabolite of Vanda's existing drug iloperidone (Fanapt) and represents a new chemical entity in the atypical antipsychotic class."

 

Reversing an earlier decision, the FDA has agreed to review Moderna's new mRNA flu vaccine. After some back and forth with Moderna, the agency agreed to begin a review after saying last week that the vaccine research was flawed. No explanation given for the change of heart. 

 

New draft guidance from the FDA spells out how ultra-rare therapies can be put on the approval pathway. With few patients to study, these rare diseases can't use larger, randomized controlled trials, and so haven't had a guideline for FDA approvals. 

As lifelong fans and owners of horses* we were unaware that the mechanisms behind the horse's whinny were of great scientific discussion, but apparently we were wrong. Researchers at the University of Copenhagen have figured out how horses can produce both low- and high-pitched sounds at the same time. 

 

They're whistling but from inside their larynx.  

 

Mammals of equine sizes have larger larynxes which tend to produce lower pitched sounds, which horses do. But they also vocalize with high pitched sounds as well in sync with the lower pitched sounds. It's called biphonation, and while present in domestic equids it is missing from donkeys and zebras. 

 

There's a lot going on at GPhA! Here's a look at what's happening at the Association. 

 

Did you know you can access archived Buzz Newsletters on our website? You can find them here. The weekly Legislative Update is also archived online, and you can find it here. If you are not receiving both email newsletters, please let us know. You may have to "whitelist" our domain on your email server. 

 

 

 

This Sunday, March 1, we'll open registration for the 2026 Georgia Pharmacy Convention. Check out the Convention website and get your early bird discounted tickets, available for all member pharmacists, technicians, and students. 

 

Our new member referral program is up and running. See more details here, and make sure you invite your non-member colleagues to join GPhA in 2026.